Person-2-Person - December, 2018

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa

About two months ago, a rare Mandarin duck was spotted in Manhattan’s Central Park. The species is notable for its bright, distinctive green and purple plumage. But as the term “Mandarin” might suggest, the duck is native to East Asia, thousands of miles from New York. The trouble is, nobody knows where the duck came from or how it got to Central Park. No zoos have reported a missing duck and since it’s illegal to keep a duck as a pet in New York City, even if it came from a private collection or zoo it’s unlikely anyone will claim it.

A few weeks after the duck appeared in Central Park, another Mandarin duck was sighted closer to us in the town of Florissant, Missouri, nearly 900 miles from Manhattan. Because of the distance it’s unlikely to be the same duck but it adds to the mystery since no one knows how either duck got to North America, much less New York or Missouri. Wildlife experts don’t know, onlookers don’t know, and it’s entirely possible the ducks themselves don’t know. We certainly can’t ask them. For Advent more than ten years ago (December, 2007), I wrote about a clam nicknamed “Ming.” This year I’m writing about a pair of ducks. Maybe in another ten years or so if Person-2-Person is still going I’ll finally write about mammals.

Some people had questions and ideas about Jesus that were similar to our questions and ideas about the ducks. They were either convinced they knew where he came from and who he was or that his origins were a mystery. Before he became Jesus’ disciple, Nathaniel asked his brother, Philip, “‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’” (John 1:46b Christian Standard Bible). He was ready to dismiss Jesus because of his prejudices. When Jesus told the Jewish authorities, “‘The Father who sent me has himself testified about me,’” (John 5:37a CSB) they were similarly ready to dismiss him. He told the crowds who followed him, “‘. . . the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’” (John 6:33 CSB). But the Jewish authorities asked, “‘Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’” (John 6:42 CSB). They didn’t understand him or his message.

Some said, “‘But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he is from.’” (John 7:27 CSB). They were ready to dismiss him because of where he lived but others weren’t so sure. He told the people who believed in him, “‘You know me and you know where I am from.’” (7:28b CSB). They didn’t believe because of his Earthly origins but because of his message. After a man who had been born blind received his sight from Jesus (John 9:1-7), the Pharisees told the man, “‘We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man—we don't know where he’s from.’” (John 9:29 CSB). The man replied, “‘This is an amazing thing! . . . You don't know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes.’” (9:30b CSB). He didn’t need to know where Jesus was from to believe in the miracle that had happened to him.

We can believe there’s a Mandarin duck where there shouldn’t be without knowing how it got to that place because the newspapers and television tell us so. And if we can believe in a beautiful, inexplicable duck, we can believe in a beautiful, inexplicable savior who was both human and God without understanding how it happened because the Good News of the gospel tells us so.

When we look at a nativity scene, at the child in the manger, what do we see? Do we see just another baby? Or do we see the child of God? An ordinary infant? Or the savior of the world? Our answer to that question will determine how we live our lives. Jesus asked his disciples, “‘[W]ho do you say that I am?’” (Matt. 16:15b CSB). Peter answered, “‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’” (vs. 16 CSB). During Advent, we welcome Jesus as a baby, not an ordinary baby but the incarnate child of God. The familiar 19th century carol asks the question, “What Child Is This?” How we answer tells others what we believe. Across the ages, Jesus asks each of us, “‘Who do you say that I am? Where do you say I came from?’”

“‘This is an amazing thing!’ the man told them. ‘You don’t know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he listens to him. . . . If this man were not from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.’” (John 9:30-31, 33 CSB.)